I Became an Evolving Space Monster
Chapter 407

——————

[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

——————

Chapter 407

Among the intelligent factions of Space Survival, a shared system known as ‘conflict’ exists.

The larger the player’s faction grows, the more likely conflicts will erupt on the planets and star systems under its control. Eventually, a unique conflict event tailored to each species is triggered.

For example, the Megacorp faces colonial independence movements. The Cult Empire deals with slave uprisings. The Star Union suffers revolts from cloned citizens. Even the Wolf Syndicate and the Spacedogs have their own equivalents.

Though the names and details vary, once conflict begins, it must be quelled quickly. Otherwise, it escalates into full-scale rebellion—and ultimately, the territory breaks off as an independent NPC faction.

This was my first time visiting the XER-11 system, but I’ve infiltrated conflict zones many times before. I know exactly how to get in.

Still, I had to be more careful than usual this time. The battle against the Rankers had just ended not long ago.

There’s no doubt they’re still on high alert for me. If I get discovered before I find a trace of the Arcane Orca, it’ll be a real pain. A Ranker attack could wipe out an entire colony.

With all of that in mind, I chose AG-01 as my target.

For starters, it’s the closest colony to the star in the system. If the Arcane Orca ever operated in XER-11, there’s a good chance some trace of it is left here.

Also, AG-01 is the most chaotic zone in the system. The local administrators are stretched thin dealing with pirates and separatist movements. I could establish a nest without anyone noticing.

And so, slipping past the planet’s flimsy surveillance net was easy enough.

To my advantage, the terraforming machinery was also broken. With constant storms and torrential rains raging nonstop, it’d be difficult for anyone to spot me hiding.

The first place I set foot upon successful infiltration was a city’s wastewater treatment plant.

Despite being essential to the residential infrastructure, it had clearly been abandoned. There were no administrators or guards—just swarms of homeless drifters and junkies.

Toxic runoff. Excess moisture. Countless organic bodies rich in nutrients.

‘A perfect environment for nesting.’

After sending PS-111 off to another location, I immediately rooted my nest above the wastewater facility. The black mucus excreted from my body sucked up the contaminated water and grew into a massive hive.

That was when I first experienced the true power of the Hiveformer in reality.

Unlike other traits, nest-related ones are hard to utilize unless conditions are ideal. Without a nest, they’re useless.

But if there is a nest? Then their strength skyrockets. Hiveformer is the prime example of that.

Once acquired, the Hiveformer trait allows me to periodically generate a swarm of threadworms within the nest. Dull black in color, these Hiveformers intercept intruders or break down corpses into energy to fuel the hive.

As the name suggests, they are living entities designed to grow and maintain the nest.

The original Hiveformers, created by the Outspacers, have considerable combat prowess. But those born from the Amorph’s nest are weak—barely on par with Megacorp’s corpse catfish.

However, their true value emerges in numbers—and when they wear an enemy’s skin.

I looked down at the many drifters standing at my feet. They stood still atop the black mucus, unmoving—human at a glance.

But closer inspection revealed something writhing beneath their thin skin. These weren’t homeless people—they were swarms of threadworms wearing peeled human hides.

Hiveformers infiltrate their prey and consume flesh from the inside out. Once nothing but skin remains, they crawl inside and wear it like a disguise.

They resemble parasites but differ in critical ways. They don’t control living creatures—they merely move puppets made from corpses. They can’t access any inherent abilities or traits of the original body.

‘That doesn’t make them useless, though.’

Unlike parasites that can only inhabit certain species, Hiveformers have no such limits. As long as there’s a hole to crawl into and meat to chew, any creature will do.

‘And then…’

I lowered my body and bowed my central head toward the floor. The black mucus continued soaking up rainwater. The moment I pressed an auxiliary organ against it, my consciousness expanded dramatically.

Suddenly, my vision fractured into thousands of fragments—like I was staring at a wall of monitors. By linking to the hive, I could now share the vision of every Hiveformer within it.

I maintained this state and focused on the ones below. One of the "drifters" near my feet slowly moved forward. Slithering like a snail, it latched onto a captured human.

‘Didn’t think I could control them like this.’

In the game, I could only issue basic orders—multiply, gather at a point—that sort of thing. Giving commands like ‘grab that person’ was never possible.

Though linking to the nest is a necessary condition for such control, that’s always been the case. It’s no real drawback.

‘This opens up a lot more options.’

Originally, my plan was to keep a few drifters and turn the rest into hive material. Human bodies—especially those of junkies—aren’t ideal for combat.

But now that I can give specific instructions to Hiveformers, there’s no need to treat them as disposable. Using them as disguised drifters could help me locate the humans who handle information.

After establishing the nest, I spread black mucus through the sewers connected to the facility. At the same time, I sent Hiveformers into the nearest city. While the mucus quietly consumed the infrastructure, the Hiveformers scouted for useful humans.

The one currently restrained by that Hiveformer was one such result.

‘A human whose mind might be worth prying open.’

I lifted my head and severed the link with the hive.

The threadworm-filled drifter still held onto the captured man. When I extended a combat limb, the Hiveformer instantly let go and returned to its nest duties.

I picked up the man I’d pulled out of the apartment rubble.

“Heh... heehee...”

He kept laughing—had been laughing nonstop. His glazed eyes told me his mind had long since broken.

‘Didn’t even do anything to him.’

Aside from knocking down the apartment wall to drag him out, I hadn’t made any threats. I didn’t expect him to lose his sanity over that alone.

‘Not that I care.’

I set him down and called over the small companion I’d brought with me. The left head opened its mouth, and from within, a creature emerged—shaped like a woman’s head fused with metal spider legs.

It was MPS-03, the Mini Screamer I built together with PS-111.

Normally, I brought along Model 5, which was built for communications and hacking, but not this time. MPS-05 wasn’t here—Mother of the Sky had taken it with her.

“Check him again, just to be sure.”

“Strange thing. Check. Check.”

Responding to my request, the machine lifted its metal leg in a salute. Its left head lowered its neck, allowing the unit to disembark with ease. MPS-03 scurried over to the man using its many metal legs.

“Mechanical parts. Scanning.”

“Hehe, heheh…”

Perched on the man’s shoulder, it extended one of its limbs. A dish-shaped antenna popped out from the tip and began sweeping across the man’s face.

‘Let’s hope there’s nothing stuck in his head like last time.’

Before coming here, I had asked PS-111 to give the mini screamers the ability to detect electronic devices—just in case any Rankers had planted traps in their subordinates.

Retrofitting all of them would have taken too long, so we only added the detection module to Models 3 and 5 for now. That antenna-like piece protruding from MPS-03’s leg was the result of that upgrade.

While it ran its scan, I turned my head toward a partially collapsed apartment building nearby.

Black mucus could be seen surging up from within. The hiveformers followed the trail, scavenging anything that might serve as nutrients.

As I surveyed the building’s interior, a room once lived in by a human caught my eye.

‘Huh?’

Lying next to the debris was something unexpected. Using the small arm on my chest, I cleared the rubble and picked it up.

‘A portable hologram player?’

It was an expensive piece of equipment—definitely not something I expected to find in a place like this.

“Strange thing. Not found! Not found!”

Just then, MPS-03 completed its inspection. I implanted a parasite into the man. He swallowed the eel-like creature, shuddered for a moment, then fell still.

“You were carrying something interesting.”

“Y-yes…”

“Tell me who you are, and what you were doing here.”

“Yes. My name is…”

Even in his current state of confusion, the parasite’s commands couldn’t be resisted. The man, who introduced himself as Jeff, began to speak slowly in response to my questioning.

And the more he spoke, the more surprised I became.

“This place was used for developing Hulk Mutants?”

“Yes. The Noble Capital T&C family was secretly trying to develop Hulk Mutants. In the colonies affiliated with the Zerr-11 system, T&C has multiple hidden laboratories.”

Jeff was a journalist—a renowned one, apparently, hired by none other than the Prime Capital Zhao family. Maybe that’s why he knew more than I expected.

“Then does this planet also have a facility for storing genetic samples?”

“Yes. T&C’s security team is guarding both the genetic samples and the Hulk Mutant test subjects.”

The key detail here was that both the samples and the test subjects were still intact.

“Could be useful.”

“Thank you…”

As Jeff bowed his head respectfully, I licked my lips in thought.

I’ll need to check if I can siphon some of those samples off for myself.

——————

[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

——————

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.